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Hey there, just a stupid newbie asking questions. I pick up my new 2003 Civic LX Sedan this week and yes, it's automatic... I've had manual shifts in the past but with all my commuting now, auto made more sense. I'm not looking to mod this car up the wazoo, but want to hit the 130HP+ mark eventually with a few mods... not looking for a street racer, but, not a grand-ma car either.

My first two mods would but strut bars and an intake.

I notice looking online there are many front/rear strut bars listed for 2001/2002 Civics, but at the sites I've visited, not many front bars for the 2003 and no rear ones at all... would the 2001/2 bars fit the 2003? I was under the impression that the cars 2001+ are all the same anyway... just wondering if they haven't updated the car dates on the sites.

2nd, a decent, quiet air intake... I saw a few on E-Bay that say "Manual Transmission Only". Would this be because it's made to fit the manual or that it's not recommended for an auto?

When done I hope to have an air intake, manifold, high flow cat, and high flow exhaust. Strut bars, and a few visual enhancements too... not going as far as superchargers, turbos, NOS or anything like that... so, just looking for simple bolt on mods, that sorta thing.

Thanks

 
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well, since the civics are governed, it usually doesnt go over 110mph. If you had a comp that gets rid of it, its a different story.

 
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umm i dont think the 5spds are governed... cause ive gotten my 01ex sedan to go 125 before

altho im not sure what the gearing for the automatics are

 
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since no one has answered ur questions...

yes, the strut bars will work. however, the nuespeed bar will work with CAIs and SRIs, the DC Sport one and knock-offs (ebay) may not fit with CAI.

as for your second question... no it wont fit if it says "M/T only". INJEN is the ONLY company that makes a CAI for A/T.

 
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ive got my ex manual to 140 at like 12 am at night with no one around.

 
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first off...he's talkin about 130 HP not MPH 2nd..warlock...i have an 03 as well. i dunno about generic ebay strut bars, but neuspeed and dc bars will fit 03 just fine. the reason why most sites don't have 01-03 listed and just 01-02...iscuz they are lame when it comes to updating intrisincs like that. so..get used to it. for the most part..."01+" or "01-02" parts will work fine for our 03's. ebay sellers who sell "01-03" indiglo/reverse indiglo/aftermarket gauges are...lying. 01-02 have a 4 gauge cluster. our 03's have a 3 gauge cluster..so beware of that. anyways..happy modding.

 
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actually the only bars that ive seen that work are the dc and the neuspeed... but i also seen a japanse bar that works too... altho i dunno what brand its in.. the 7thgencivic japan group probablly has more parts

 
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How about
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...tem=2420601345

The seller says this will work fine with 2003 LX Automatics... anyone ever try this brand at all? Any word on it being worth the money or does it suck?

As for the strut bars, thanks for the info, it's actually first on my short list of upgrades.

And thanks Reytito, firstly for realizing it's HP not MPH, but also because I was looking for a gague cluster replacement down the line and not knowing anyone else with a Civic, I wouldn't have known there was a difference between 2001/2's and 2003's having a different number of clusters.

By the way, great site, everyone seems pretty helpful so far

 
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weapon r intake supposedly have the best sound.

dc and neuspeed strut bars will work with it, the other ebay kind...it'll take some modifications to get it to fit w/ the intake.

 
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warlock...for $169....you can easily get aem sri. go with a popular brand..its not popular for no reason.

 
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i just installed my neuspeed sway bar today and i have an aem cai, fits fine

 
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just wondering, is a intake useless unless I put on after market headers and a full cat-back exhaust?

 
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its not useless. you'll get some gain.

the i/h/e all complement each other.

 
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plus you add a nice lil growl with the intake

 
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I guess there's no real point wih a lot of air going in if the exhaust is pinched off... I know for my ride I plan to get the intake for now and within a few months save up for a better exhaust.

Brings up my next question... would I have to custom make pipes or is there a dual exhasut kit out there (cat back)? I plan on a high flow cat, but from it I'd rather dual exhaust than just having 2.25" - 2.5" piping made and only 1 muffler...

 
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dual does absolutelly nothing for the car plus my .02 it looks wrong having a car with dual exhaust that only has 117 stock hp.

 
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Ditto. Single 2.25 cat back with high flow muffler is more than you need for our sewing machine engines.

 
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Ah, but I always had the domestics, my car I traded in was a '95 Mustang, and I dunno... even a Nissan Micra looks more powerful with dual exhaust... I was just worried if making a bigger pipe would fit, I know one guy who had 2.25" piping made for his 2001 LX Coupe, and they had to put the piping below the back axel... so the clearance of his exhaust pipe is like 3" from the ground... if that....

 
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There's your problem you are trying to make it "LOOK" more powerful. Plus if you say they had to put the piping below the axle then it's going to be below it on the other side too. Trust me duals do absolutely nothing but add to the looks. And plus you are going to want the 2.25 piping going to both mufflers if you get duals. And think about it, if you stay with the stock size for the piping you are going to get crap for air flow, which meens little to no perfomance what so ever.

Don't go for the looks more powerful over the actuall better performance, you will get laughed at.

 
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Well... dual will allow for more exhaust to go through, I mean, what's better for flow... one 2.25" pipe or two 1.75" pipes... way more volume can go through.

Single pipe for me is fine if it means decent exhaust flow... but like I mentioned, the person I know who has the bigger pipe, they had to relocate it going under the axel and the clearance is dangerously low...

If I increase the pipe size... should there not be enough room to have the pipe follow the same path as the stock ones? Or do I have to debate between better flow, or poorer clearance? If the only option for getting bigger pipes is to have poorer clearance... I'd much rather two smaller pipes tucked up under the car and out of harms way...

 
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Ive heard dual exhaust hurts our motor because then there isnt enough back pressure, plus i think its lame on Honda. If you are going to be comuting doing such mods as a cat back exhaust system ur not going to get teh MPG as u do leav ing it stock, since the motors are tuned for optimal MPG with a certain amount of back presure and all that good stuff...


My LX 5 speed cuts out at 120

 
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Well... how about the 2.25" piping... should it be able to follow the same path as the stock pipes? Or would it hang below the axel?

 
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If you look at most systems the go over the axle and not under. You will go along the same path as the stock pipes. Your friend must have had a crappy to get it put under the the axle.

 
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if u really want to make your car "look" more powerful...why not just put two exhaust on...but make one of them fake...i forgot who it was that had done custom pipin where it looked like he had 2 exhaust...but it was really only one actually workin

 
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I've seen a few (very few) with dual and they look cool, but good point there... now I'll have to climb under and see if they both work or not.

How about the Strut bars... I have seen many many bad reviews for the DC bars, but the Neuspeed ones seem pretty nice, but $$$. Anyone ever try Ractive? I see they are decently priced and come in more than black and chrome... but never see mention of good or bad, or won't work with CAI or SRI. My under the hood mods won't be much more than a CAI/SRI and a strut brace, the rest is for show pretty much, but I'd hate to buy one item and find it won't fit with the other.

So far it's been said that Injen CAI or AEM SRI will work with Neuspeed... any others?

... oh yeah, 2003 LX Sedan Automatic... yes... auto... I know... why

 
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Go with the K & N FIPK II intake....it outperformed my
AEM CAI, also stick with 2.25" piping. Get a custom mandrel bent midpipe. this will nock 3/10ths of your quarter mile time. It will give you more low end torque,......I can make my tires park in 3rd gear
without using N2O

 
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The only way to have the ractive bar fit if you have an intake is if you got the injen short ram. If you get anything else you are going to either need neuspeed or dc. I personally like the look of the DC.

 
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"...yes, the strut bars will work. however, the nuespeed bar will work with CAIs and SRIs, the DC Sport one and knock-offs (ebay) may not fit with CAI..."

the dc sport strut bar is designed to work with intakes.. why else do u think its shaped like that.. for best looks and overall performance.. get with dc and injen.. and its doubtful u will reach 130hp with an intake and exhaust.. cuz no one makes LX headers -cuz of the catalytic converter.. im puttin on EX headers on my bros car soon.. ill let u kno how it goes..

 
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Actually DC makes two different types of strut bars for our car. When the 7thgen first came out, there were no intakes on the market for our car. So dc made one how most generic bars are. Once intakes started coming out they designed a new strut bar to go around where the tube would be.